


oh the habits of my heart, i can't say no

by LilacsAndLilies



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Could Be Canon, Domestic Fluff, F/M, Fluff, Gallifreyan Language (Doctor Who), Gen or Pre-Slash, My First Work in This Fandom, Reading
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-02
Updated: 2020-09-02
Packaged: 2021-03-06 23:40:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 951
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26257285
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LilacsAndLilies/pseuds/LilacsAndLilies
Summary: It's a lazy day on the TARDIS and Rose really wants to know what the Doctor is reading
Relationships: Tenth Doctor & Rose Tyler, Tenth Doctor/Rose Tyler
Comments: 8
Kudos: 44





	oh the habits of my heart, i can't say no

**Author's Note:**

  * For [angxlsgrxce](https://archiveofourown.org/users/angxlsgrxce/gifts), [RandyQueen](https://archiveofourown.org/users/RandyQueen/gifts).



It was a lazy day on the TARDIS. Rose had gotten up ridiculously late after collapsing onto her bed in exhaustion from their latest adventure. She was all for the running and the danger, but a break was necessary every once in a while.

She waltzed into the kitchen, grabbing a breakfast bar and settling onto the kitchen counter. She hadn’t seen the Doctor yet that morning, which wasn’t worrying in the absurdly large ship, but was odd nonetheless. Normally he would join her for breakfast, the two of them spending a few moments in their own off center version of domestics before heading out to spend the day together.

It wasn’t all running and adventure. There were a lot of days like this one, where the TARDIS parked herself in the Time Vortex and the Doctor took the chance to do repairs or read a book. Rose had done her own exploring of the ship and found several rooms to keep her interest, but the Doctor was almost always in the library, so that was where she often ended up as well. 

She threw the wrapper in the trash, heading down the long twisted corridors to the room in question. As she expected, the Doctor sat, lounged on a couch, his nose stuck in a book. “Morning Doctor.” She grinned, practically jumping onto the sofa beside him. 

The Doctor grinned, taking a moment to slip a bookmark into his book and setting it down on the table in front of him before shifting to face Rose, the two of them looking at each other as they sat on the couch. “Good morning Rose! Did you get enough sleep?” He kept a smile on his face, but the worry in his words was clear. 

“Yup. Nothing like running for your life to make sure ya get enough sleep.”

“The tried and true Time Lord method to deal with insomnia.” The doctor said in a mock serious tone. The reading glasses perched on his nose only completed the look and Rose couldn’t stop herself from snickering. 

“Whatcha reading?” She leaned over, grabbing the book from the table. The title was printed in circular gallifreyan, the letters slightly raised on the cover. Her finger glazed over each of them, lingering between the dips.

“A Brief Study of Temporal Nexuses.”

To her credit, Rose didn’t really react to the frankly ridiculous name of the book. She was more than used to it by now. Instead, she flipped open the first page to see a few letters scribbled on the inside in the top corner, the handwriting now very familiar to her. “What does it say?”

The doctor scooted closer to her and took a look at what she was gesturing at. “Theta Sigma.”

“Your nickname?” Rose vaguely recalled the name from the few stories the Doctor had told her of his childhood. 

The Doctor hummed in response. “It’s one of my books from school.”

Rose grinned. “Funny to think of you in school. Did ya have to sit in rows during classes?”

“Something like that.” He shrugged, trying to pass over the comment. “I never actually read it in school, thought I might as well now.”

He thought that was that, but Rose had other plans. She flipped the next page, scanning over the large text, all written in Gallifreyan. “I wish the TARDIS would translate this.” 

“Do you want to read it?” The Doctor didn’t even register his response until after he said it. “I- I mean, did you want me to tell you what the words mean?” 

Rose lit up. “Oh would ya Doctor?” 

The Doctor had faced a lot of people, but he could never say no to Rose Tyler. Especially not when she was looking at her, her eyes wide and pleading. He sighed and moved closer, closing the space between them. He grabbed a hold of one side of the book, settling it down between their laps. Their thighs were touching, both of them pressed up against each other on a couch that would have seated them both far more comfortably. He reached over, using his right hand to point out the first word. “This circle is the word ‘the’. This letter here is a ‘t’, as u can see by the way the circle dips in.” 

Rose leaned in, her hand shifting to rest gently on the Doctor’s thigh as she balanced herself in a place where she could clearly see each word. “Are you gonna teach me how to read it?”

He glanced down for a second, before meeting Rose’s eyes again. “It’s the most interesting way to tell you what it said.” His voice was excited as always, but Rose could sense the hesitation behind it. She was quick to expel it.

“Well then Doctor, please continue.” She watched him with fascination, feeling herself get enthralled in how the Doctor could make even a textbook sound like a vivid adventure. Their arms were practically interlocked with how close to each other they were, constantly pointing at different letters on the page. Any last spaces between them closed as she let his voice mesmerize her. Every so often she would shout out a word she recognized, slowly growing to recognize the simple letters. Every time she made a correct translation, the Doctor gave her a bright grin, pushing her to try harder. 

Several hours passed by like that, the two of them pouring over the old Gallifreyan textbook, enjoying each other’s company as they spent their lazy day together. If she could have, the TARDIS would have smiled, watching her thief and her bad wolf read. As it was, the ship hummed, relaxing along with her occupants.

**Author's Note:**

> Talk to me on tumblr @lilacsandlilies4


End file.
